Mobile communication terminal

ABSTRACT

When reproducing a multimedia file received by a receiving section, a control section controls a sound reproduction section to reproduce a sound on the basis of sound data. Further, the control section controls a display section to display an image on the basis of image data if the multimedia file contains the image data, and controls the display section to display a prepared substitute image if the multimedia file contains no image data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/238.684, filed Sep. 11,2002 now U.S Pat. No. 7,120,470, which is incorporated in its entiretyherein by reference. This application is also based upon and claims thebenefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No.2001-303418, filed Sep. 28, 2001, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, suchas a mobile telephone ready for, for example, motion-picture-deliveryservices, the terminal receiving and reproducing a multimedia file thatcan contain both image data and sound data.

2. Description of the Related Art

In motion-picture-delivery services provided via mobile telephonenetworks, multimedia files that can contain motion picture and sounddata are transmitted.

Mobile telephones ready for motion-picture-delivery services extractmotion picture and sound data from multimedia files transmitted viamobile telephone networks, enabling reproduction of the contents.

Multimedia files do not always contain motion picture data. If a fileonly contains sound data, only this is reproduced, and nothing isdisplayed. This can cause confusion with the user, who may believe thatall multimedia files contain motion pictures, whereas they may onlycontain sound data.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to enable users to recognize that amultimedia file containing no image data is being normally reproduced.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a mobilecommunication terminal comprising: a sound reproduction section whichreproduces sound on the basis of sound data; a display section whichdisplays an image on the basis of image data; a receiving section whichreceives a multimedia file which can contain both the image and sounddata; and a control section which executes control to reproduce themultimedia file received by the receiving section, the control sectioncontrolling the sound reproduction section to reproduce the sound basedon the sound data, the control section controlling the display sectionto display an image based on the image data if the multimedia filecontains the image data, and the control section controlling the displaysection to display a prepared substitute image if the multimedia filecontains no image data.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a mobilecommunication terminal comprising: a sound reproduction section whichreproduces sound on the basis of sound data; a display section whichdisplays an image on the basis of image data; a receiving section whichreceives a multimedia file which contains at least one of the image andsound data; and a control section which executes control to reproducethe multimedia file received by the receiving section, the controlsection controlling the sound reproduction section to reproduce soundbased on the sound data if the multimedia file contains the sound data,the control section controlling the display section to display an imagebased on the image data if the multimedia file contains the image data,and the control section controlling the display section to display aprepared substitute image if the multimedia file contains no image data.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided amobile communication terminal comprising: a sound reproduction sectionwhich reproduces sound on the basis of sound data; a display sectionwhich displays an image on the basis of image data; a storage sectionwhich stores substitute data indicative of a predetermined substituteimage; a receiving section which receives a multimedia file whichcontains at least one of the image and sound data; and a control sectionwhich executes control to reproduce the multimedia file received by thereceiving section, the control section controlling the soundreproduction section to reproduce sound based on the sound data if themultimedia file contains the sound data, the control section controllingthe display section to display an image based on the image data if themultimedia file contains the image data, and the control sectioncontrolling the display section to display a substitute image based onthe substitute data stored in the storage section if the multimedia filecontains no image data.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectsand advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means ofthe instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed outhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the general description given above and the detaileddescription of the embodiments given below, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile telephone according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart useful in explaining a process for reproducing amultimedia file;

FIGS. 3A-3D are examples of display used during multimedia filereproduction;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for setting a substituteimage; and

FIGS. 5A-5F are examples of display used during substitute image settingprocess.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile telephone according tothe embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile telephone of the embodiment comprises anantenna 1, radio section 2, CDMA processing section 3,compression/expansion section 4, PCM processing section 5, call section6, user interface section 7, motion picture processing section 8,display control section 9, memory section 10, timing circuit 11 and CPU12. The radio section 2 incorporates a duplexer (DUP) 2 a, receivingcircuit (RX) 2 b, frequency synthesizer (SYN) 2 c and transmissioncircuit (TX) 2 d. The call section 6 incorporates a receiver amplifier 6a, receiver 6 b, microphone 6 c and transmission amplifier 6 d. The userinterface section 7 incorporates a display section 7 a and input section7 b.

A radio signal transmitted from a base station (not shown) is receivedby the antenna 1 and input to the radio section 2. In the radio section2, the radio signal is input to the receiving circuit 2 b via theduplexer 2 a. The receiving circuit 2 b mixes the radio signal with areceiver-side local oscillation signal output from the frequencysynthesizer 2 c, thereby converting the radio signal into anintermediate frequency signal. The frequency of the receiving-side localoscillation signal output from the frequency synthesizer 2 c is set onthe basis of a control signal output from the CPU 12.

The intermediate frequency signal is input to the CDMA processingsection 3, where it is subjected to a despread process using a spreadcode assigned to each receiving channel. Subsequently, the CDMAprocessing section 3 executes orthogonal demodulation corresponding to,for example, QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) modulation, therebyconverting the signal into demodulation data or packet data of apredetermined format. After that, the CDMA processing section 3 suppliesthe converted demodulation data to the compression/expansion section 4,and supplies the packet data to the CPU 12.

The compression/expansion section 4 executes expansion on thedemodulation data from the CDMA processing section 3, according to areception data rate supplied from the CPU 12. This section also carriesout decoding, using, for example, Viterbi, and errorcorrection/decoding, thereby reproducing baseband sound data. Expansionis carried out under QCELP or EVRC. The resultant sound data is sent tothe PCM processing section 5.

The PCM processing section 5 executes PCM decoding on the digital sounddata output from the compression/expansion section 4, thereby providingan analog sound signal. The sound signal is amplified by the receiveramplifier 6 a and output in the form of sound from the receiver 6 b.

The microphone 10 converts sound waves from the user into a soundsignal. This sound signal is input to the transmission amplifier 6 d,where it is amplified, then output to PCM processing section 5.

The PCM processing section 5 executes PCM encoding processing on thesound signal, thereby providing digital sound data. The sound data isthen supplied to the compression/expansion section 4.

The compression/expansion section 4 detects the energy level of thesound data, and determines the data rate accordingly. Subsequently, thesound data is compressed into a signal format corresponding to the datarate, using QCELP. Thereafter, the sound data is subjected to errorcorrection encoding based on, for example, convolutional encoding, andis output to the CDMA processing section 3.

The CDMA processing section 3 multiplexes transmission data of differenttransmission channels individually supplied from thecompression/expansion section 4. After that, the CDMA processing section3 modulates a carrier signal using the multiplexed transmission data.For this modulation, QPSK is used, for example. The CDMA processingsection 3 obtains a transmission signal by executing spectrum spreadprocessing on the modulated carrier signal, using a PN code assigned tothe transmission channel of the multiplexed transmission data.Thereafter, the CDMA processing section 3 supplies the transmissionsignal to the transmission circuit 2 d of the radio section 2.

The transmission circuit 2 d mixes the transmission signal with atransmission-side local oscillation signal generated by the frequencysynthesizer 2 c, thereby obtaining a radio frequency signal.Subsequently, the transmission circuit 2 d amplifies only the effectiveportion of the radio frequency signal on the basis of the transmissiondata rate supplied from the CPU 12, and outputs the resultant signal.The radio frequency signal output from the transmission circuit 2 d issupplied to the antenna 1 via the duplexer 2 a, and is transmitted tothe connected base station via the antenna 1.

The input section 7 b has a key group that includes dial keys, atransmission key, power supply key, end key, volume adjusting key andmode designating key, etc. The user of the mobile phone inputs aninstruction by pushing a key incorporated in the input section 7 b. Thedisplay section 7 a is provided with an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) andan LED (Light Emitting Diode), etc. Using the LCD and LED, the displaysection 7 a displays the other party's mobile phone number, theoperational status, e.g. incoming call status, battery status, of theusers mobile phone, information downloaded from a web site,transmitted/received mail, motion picture data, etc.

Upon receiving motion picture data from the CPU 12, the motion pictureprocessing section 8 decodes the motion picture data to thereby obtainmotion picture display data for displaying a motion picture on thedisplay section 7 a. The motion picture processing section 8 suppliesthe motion picture display data to the display control section 9. TheCPU 12 also supplies motion picture display data or still image displaydata to the display control section 9. The display control section 9drives the display section 7 a on the basis of the motion picturedisplay data and still image display data, so as to display a motionpicture or still image.

The memory section 10 is, for example, a ROM, DRAM (Dynamic RAM), SRAM(Static RAM), flash memory, etc. The memory section 10 stores anoperation program for the CPU 12. The memory section 10 also storesvarious data such as setting information, received data, data created bythe mobile phone, etc. A part of the memory section 10 is used as a datafolder 10 a. The data folder 10 a can store a plurality of arbitraryimage data items whose storage is designated by the user.

The timing circuit 11 generates a reference clock of a predeterminedspeed. The timing circuit 11 supplies the generated reference clock toeach circuit section in the mobile phone, such as the CPU 12, whichneeds an operation clock.

The CPU 12 controls each section by software processing based on theoperation program that is stored in the memory section 10, therebyrealizing the operations of the mobile telephone. Further, the CPU 12serves as a control section 12 a. The control section 12 a controls thereproduction of a multimedia file upon the reception of the file.

The operation of the mobile phone constructed as above will now bedescribed, omitting description of standard mobile phone functions, suchas sound communication, receiving multimedia files, since theseprocesses are similar to conventional ones. Instead, only operationsrelated to reproduction of a received multimedia file will be describedin detail.

Firstly, when it is necessary to reproduce a multimedia file, the CPU 12executes processing for the reproduction of the multimedia file as shownin FIG. 2.

At a step ST1, the CPU 12 determines whether or not the to-be-reproducedmultimedia file contains motion picture data. If it determines that theto-be-reproduced multimedia file contains motion picture data, the CPU12 determines at the next step ST2 whether or not the to-be-reproducedmultimedia file contains telop data.

If it determines that the to-be-reproduced multimedia file containstelop data, the CPU 12 starts, at a step ST3, display of a motionpicture and a telop and reproduction of sound. Specifically, the CPU 12extracts motion picture data from the multimedia file and supplies it tothe motion picture processing section 8. The motion picture processingsection 8 decodes the motion picture data, thereby obtaining motionpicture display data and supplying it to the display control section 9.Further, the CPU 12 extracts telop data from the multimedia file andgenerates image data for a telop on the basis of the extracted data. TheCPU 12 supplies the telop image data to the display control section 9.The display control section 9 superimposes the telop image data on themotion picture data and into a predetermined format, and drives thedisplay section 7 a to execute, for example, the display shown in FIG.3A. The CPU 12 also extracts sound data from the multimedia file, andsupplies it to the compression/expansion section 4 if it is compressedusing the QCELP system. After being expanded by thecompression/expansion section 4, the sound data is converted into ananalog sound signal by PCM decoding in the PCM processing section 5, andis output as a sound from the receiver 6 b. If the sound data extractedfrom the multimedia file is MP3 data, the CPU 12 expands the sound dataand supplies the expanded PCM data to the PCM processing section 5,where the PCM data is converted into an analog sound signal by PCMdecoding, and is output as a sound from the receiver 6 b.

On the other hand, if the CPU 12 determines at the step ST2 that themultimedia file contains no telop data, it starts, at a step ST4,display of a motion picture and reproduction of sound. Specifically, theCPU 12 extracts motion picture data from the multimedia file andsupplies it to the motion picture processing section 8. The motionpicture processing section 8 decodes the motion picture data, therebyobtaining motion picture display data and supplying it to the displaycontrol section 9. If the display control section 9 thus receives onlymotion picture display data, it drives the display section 7 a toexecute, for example, the display shown in FIG. 3B. The CPU 12 alsoextracts sound data from the multimedia file, and carries out soundreproduction based on the extracted sound data in the same manner as theabove.

If the CPU 12 determines at the step ST1 that the to-be-reproducedmultimedia file contains no motion picture data, it subsequentlydetermines at a step ST5 whether or not the multimedia file containstelop data.

If the CPU 12 determines that the multimedia file contains telop data,it starts, at a step ST6, display of a substitute image and a telop andreproduction of sound. The substitute image is prepared as an image tobe displayed instead of a motion picture. Specifically, the CPU 12extracts telop data from the multimedia file, and generates image dataindicative of an image that is formed by superimposing a telop producedfrom the telop data on the substitute image. The CPU 12 supplies theimage data to the display control section 9. When the display controlsection 9 has thus received image data only from the CPU 12, it drives,on the basis of the image data, the display section 7 a to execute, forexample, the display shown in FIG. 3C. The CPU 12 also extracts sounddata from the multimedia file, and causes sound reproduction based onthe extracted sound data in the same manner as the above.

On the other hand, if the CPU 12 determines at the step ST5 that theto-be-reproduced multimedia file contains no telop data, it starts, at astep ST7, display of a substitute image and reproduction of sound.Specifically, the CPU 12 supplies image data indicative of thesubstitute image to the display control section 9. When the displaycontrol section 9 has thus received image data only from the CPU 12, itdrives, on the basis of the image data, the display section 7 a toexecute, for example, the display shown in FIG. 3D. The CPU 12 alsoextracts sound data from the multimedia file, and causes soundreproduction based on the extracted sound data in the same manner as theabove.

After starting the reproduction of the multimedia file at the step ST3,ST4, ST6 or ST7, the CPU 12 waits, at steps ST8 and ST9, for thecompletion of the reproduction or an instruction, issued by the user, tostop the reproduction. If the reproduction has completed, or if the stopof the reproduction has been designated by the user, the CPU 12 stopsthe operation started at the step ST3, ST4, ST6 or ST7, therebyfinishing the multimedia file reproduction processing.

The substitute image shown in FIG. 3C or 3D contains a message “NowReproduction Sound” in a predetermined background area of a certaincolor indicated by hatching. This image data is generated by the CPU 12.The displayed images are default substitute image examples.

In the mobile telephone of the embodiment, any arbitrary image may beused as a substitute image, as well as the default images. To this end,at the steps ST6 and ST7, the CPU 12 outputs, to the display controlsection 9, image data indicative of an image set as the substituteimage.

When the user has requested to change the substitute image, the CPU 12executes the substitute image setting process illustrated in FIG. 4.

In the substitute image setting process, firstly, the CPU 12 causes, ata step ST11, the display section 7 a to display a first menu as shown,for example, in FIG. 5A, thereby permitting one of the items of the menuto be designated. As shown in FIG. 5A, the first menu is provided sothat the user can choose whether the default image or an image stored ina data folder 10 a should be used. After the user has chosen, the CPU 12determines, at a step ST12, which one has been designated.

After determining that the default image has been designated, the CPU 12previews, at a step ST13, the default image on the display section 7 aas shown in FIG. 5B. With the default image displayed, the CPU 12permits, at a step ST14, the user to decide whether or not the defaultimage should be set. After the user pushes a button, the CPU 12determines at a step ST15 whether or not the user has decided. If itdetermines that the user has not decided, the CPU 12 returns the processto the step ST11. On the other hand, if it determines that the user hasdecided, the CPU 12 sets the default image as the substitute image at astep ST16. At the next step ST17, the CPU 12 displays a messageconfirming the user's decision, via display section 7 a, as shown inFIG. 5C. CPU 12 waits for the user to push the OK button at a step ST18.If the user has pushed the OK button, the CPU 12 finishes the substituteimage setting process.

If, on the other hand, it determines at the step ST12 that an imagestored in the data folder 10 a has been designated, the CPU 12 displaysthe second menu shown in, for example, FIG. 5D at a step ST19, therebypermitting the user to designate one of the items of the second menu. Asshown in FIG. 5D, the second menu provides a list of titles assigned tothe images stored in the data folder 10 a, and permits the user todesignate one of the titles. After the user has designated one of thetitles, the CPU 12 previews, at a step ST20, the image designated by theuser on the display section 7 a as shown in FIG. 5E. With the designatedimage displayed, the CPU 12 permits, at a step ST21, the user to decidewhether or not the designated image should be set. After the user hasmade an operation, the CPU 12 determines at a step ST22 whether or notthe user has decided the designation. If it determines that the user hasnot decided the designation, the CPU 12 returns the process to the stepST19. On the other hand, if it determines that the user has decided thedesignation, the CPU 12 sets the designated image as the substituteimage at a step ST23. At the next step ST24, the CPU 12 causes thedisplay section 7 a to display a report of decision as shown in FIG. 5F.In this state, the CPU 12 waits for the user to push the OK button at astep ST25. If the user has pushed the OK button, the CPU 12 finishes thesubstitute image setting process.

As described above, the image set as the substitute image is used in themultimedia file reproduction process. The data folder 10 a may store apicture or photograph, as image data. Further, image data may beprestored in the data folder 10 a. The user may also store image datathere. In summary, in the above-described embodiment, when a multimediafile is reproduced, even if the file does not contain motion picturedata, a substitute image is displayed in its place. Thus, the motionpicture display area of the display section 7 a always displays acertain image. As a result, the user need not worry when nothing appearson the display, and can enjoy an image and sound at the same time.

Moreover, in the embodiment, since the image used as a substitute can bechanged, the user can arbitrarily set any image as a substitute.

The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and isalso applicable to a mobile communication terminal for receiving andreproducing multimedia files that contain still image data.

Further, a motion picture may be used as the substitute image, or asingle image may consistently be used.

The invention may be a mobile communication terminal of a system otherthan CDMA, or another type of mobile communication terminal, such as aPHS.

In addition, sound reproduction based on sound data contained in amultimedia file may be executed using a speaker, instead of the receiver6 b.

Furthermore, an earphone or headphone may be connected to enable soundreproduction.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A mobile communication terminal comprising: a receiving section whichreceives a data file from an external terminal having a format toaccommodate both first image data and sound data; a memory which storesa second image data to be used for informing that the received data filedoes not include the first image data; a sound outputting section whichoutputs sound based on the sound data included in the received datafile; a display section which selectively displays an image based on oneof the first image data included in the received data file and thesecond image data stored in the memory; and a control section whichcontrols the sound outputting section and the display section; whereinthe control section: checks whether or not the received data fileincludes both first image data and sound data after the receivingsection receives the data file from the external terminal; controls thedisplay section to display the first image data included in the receiveddata file and the sound outputting section to output the sound dataincluded in the received data file, if the received data file includesboth first image data and sound data; and controls the display sectionto display the second image data stored in the memory to indicate thatthe data file does not contain the first image data and the soundoutputting section to output the sound data included in the receiveddata file, if the received data file contains only the sound data. 2.The mobile communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein thesecond image data is a character message.
 3. The mobile communicationaccording to claim 1, wherein the second image data is a motion image.4. A mobile communication terminal comprising: a receiving section whichreceives a data file having a format to accommodate both first imagedata and sound data; a memory which stores the data file received by thereceiving section and a second image data to be used for informing thatthe data file does not include the first image data; a sound outputtingsection which outputs sound based on the sound data included in thereceived data file; a display section which selectively displays animage based on one of the first image data included in the received datafile and the second image data stored in the memory; and a controlsection which controls the sound outputting section and the displaysection; wherein the control section: checks whether or not the receiveddata file includes both first image data and sound data after thereceiving section receives the data file; controls the display sectionto display the first image data included in the data file and the soundoutputting section to output the sound data included in the receiveddata file, if the received data file includes both first image data andsound data; and controls the display section to display the second imagedata stored in the memory to indicate that the data file does notcontain the first image data and the sound outputting section to outputthe sound data included in the received data file, if the received datafile contains only the sound data.
 5. The mobile communication terminalaccording to claim 4, wherein the second image data is a charactermessage.
 6. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 4,wherein the second image data is a motion image.
 7. A mobilecommunication terminal comprising: a memory which stores a received datafile capable of accommodating both first image data and sound data, anda second image data to be used for informing that the data file does notcontain the first image data; a sound outputting section which outputssound based on the sound data included in the received data file; adisplay section which selectively displays an image based on one of thefirst image data included in the received data file and the second imagedata stored in the memory; and a control section which controls thesound outputting section and the display section; wherein the controlsection: checks whether or not the received data file includes bothfirst image data and sound data after the receiving section receives thedata file; controls the display section to display the first image dataincluded in the received data file and the sound outputting section tooutput the sound data included in the received data file, if thereceived data file includes both first image and sound data; andcontrols the display section to display the second image data stored inthe memory to indicate that the data file does not contain the firstimage data and the sound outputting section to output the sound dataincluded in the received data file, if the received data file containsonly the sound data.
 8. The mobile communication terminal according toclaim 7, wherein the second image data is a character message.
 9. Themobile communication terminal according to claim 7, wherein the secondimage data is a motion image.